John Mallet
Encyclopedia
John William Mallet FRS (10 October 1832 – 7 November 1912) was an Irish chemist who lived and worked in the United States.
and received a degree in 1852. He presented the associated thesis on the chemical composition of Celtic antiquities to the museum of the Royal Irish Academy
.
After returning to Ireland and completing his college courses, Mallet went to the United States for the purpose of acquiring information for his father. He resided there for the rest of his life, but never became an American citizen. In 1854, he was appointed professor of analytical chemistry at Amherst, where a Gottingen friend William S. Clark
held a leading position, but in January 1855 moved to the State Geological Survey of Alabama and became professor of chemistry at the University of Alabama
. He served in that capacity, with a brief leave of absence spent at Mobile, until the American Civil War
. In the autumn of 1861 he enlisted as a private in a troop of Confederate Cavalry
, but almost immediately was chosen as aide-de-camp
on the staff of General Robert E. Rodes
. He
was transferred to the artillery in May 1862 and by 1865 became lieutenant colonel
and then superintendent of the ordnance laboratories of the Southern States.
After peace had been established Mallet became professor of chemistry in the medical department of the University of Louisiana
. The appointment was the outcome of a mission which he undertook,
on behalf of some Northern financiers, to search for petroleum in this southern state. The result of the appointment was to direct his attention to medicine, in which he gained the degree of Doctor in 1868. In that year he was called to the University of Virginia
, which became his final home. At first his work included analytical, industrial and agricultural chemistry,
but, as time progressed, his scope became broader and broader. He lectured at Johns Hopkins University
in 1877 and again in 1878, and during the winter of 1883–84 was professor of chemistry and physics, and chairman of the faculty in the University of Texas. The following year found him at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia as professor of chemistry, but the unsatisfactory conditions there caused him to return in 1885 to the University of Virginia, which he never again left. In 1908 he was appointed professor emeritus at the age of seventy-six, but still kept his residence at Charlottesville. Besides his services to the Southern States during the war, he undertook a number of other commissions of a public or semipublic nature, having served as judge in the bureau of awards at the Centennial Exposition
in 1876 and been a member of the United States Federal Assay Commission in 1886, 1888 and 1896. He was a fellow or member of many chemical and other learned societies, including the
He received the honorary degree of Legum Doctor
from William and Mary College, University of Mississippi
, Princeton University
, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Pennsylvania
. His interest in the US South was emphasized and strengthened by his marriage to Mary Elizabeth Ormond (1836–1886), the daughter of an Alabama judge John James Ormond
, in 1857, and again, after the death of his first wife in 1886, to Josephine Burtlhe of Louisiana, in 1888. Josephine survived him with two of the three children from his first marriage, as his first son, John Ormond Mallet, died at an early age.
In 1961, Mallet Assembly
, a self-governing residential honors program was created by the University of Alabama
. Mallet Assembly was located in Mallet Hall, which was named for him.
and the atomic weights of lithium (1856), aluminium (1880) and gold. For comparison, his result for lithium (6.943) agrees within the error with the currently accepted value of 6.941(2). Mallet also served as expert witness in many court cases involving poisoning, value of iron ore, pollution of river water and other chemical questions.
Biography
John William Mallet was born near Dublin to Robert Mallet and Cordelia Mallet (Watson). Robert Mallet was a civil engineer and a fellow of the Royal Society and other societies and had an ample scientific library which his son had explored. Before entering college, John was attending private lessons in chemistry and at the age of 17 was admitted to Trinity College Dublin, where he obtained the degree of bachelor in arts in 1853. During the college years, he assisted his father in seismological studies, received gold medal in experimental physics, and published a paper on "Chemical examination of killinite" in 1849, just after entering college. In the summers of 1851 and 1852 he went to the University of Göttingen where he attended the lectures of Friedrich WöhlerFriedrich Wöhler
Friedrich Wöhler was a German chemist, best known for his synthesis of urea, but also the first to isolate several chemical elements.-Biography:He was born in Eschersheim, which belonged to aau...
and received a degree in 1852. He presented the associated thesis on the chemical composition of Celtic antiquities to the museum of the Royal Irish Academy
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy , based in Dublin, is an all-Ireland, independent, academic body that promotes study and excellence in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is one of Ireland's premier learned societies and cultural institutions and currently has around 420 Members, elected in...
.
After returning to Ireland and completing his college courses, Mallet went to the United States for the purpose of acquiring information for his father. He resided there for the rest of his life, but never became an American citizen. In 1854, he was appointed professor of analytical chemistry at Amherst, where a Gottingen friend William S. Clark
William S. Clark
William Smith Clark was a professor of chemistry, botany and zoology, a colonel during the American Civil War, and a leader in agricultural education. Raised and schooled in Easthampton, Massachusetts, Clark spent most of his adult life in Amherst, Massachusetts...
held a leading position, but in January 1855 moved to the State Geological Survey of Alabama and became professor of chemistry at the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
. He served in that capacity, with a brief leave of absence spent at Mobile, until the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. In the autumn of 1861 he enlisted as a private in a troop of Confederate Cavalry
Cavalry in the American Civil War
Cavalry in the American Civil War was a branch of army service in a process of transition. It suffered from emerging technology threats, difficult logistics, and sometimes misguided or inept commanders...
, but almost immediately was chosen as aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
on the staff of General Robert E. Rodes
Robert E. Rodes
Robert Emmett Rodes was a railroad civil engineer and a promising young Confederate general in the American Civil War, killed in battle in the Shenandoah Valley.-Education, antebellum career:...
. He
was transferred to the artillery in May 1862 and by 1865 became lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
and then superintendent of the ordnance laboratories of the Southern States.
After peace had been established Mallet became professor of chemistry in the medical department of the University of Louisiana
University of Louisiana
University of Louisiana may refer to:* University of Louisiana System, public multi-campus university system** Northwestern State University of Louisiana...
. The appointment was the outcome of a mission which he undertook,
on behalf of some Northern financiers, to search for petroleum in this southern state. The result of the appointment was to direct his attention to medicine, in which he gained the degree of Doctor in 1868. In that year he was called to the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
, which became his final home. At first his work included analytical, industrial and agricultural chemistry,
but, as time progressed, his scope became broader and broader. He lectured at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
in 1877 and again in 1878, and during the winter of 1883–84 was professor of chemistry and physics, and chairman of the faculty in the University of Texas. The following year found him at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia as professor of chemistry, but the unsatisfactory conditions there caused him to return in 1885 to the University of Virginia, which he never again left. In 1908 he was appointed professor emeritus at the age of seventy-six, but still kept his residence at Charlottesville. Besides his services to the Southern States during the war, he undertook a number of other commissions of a public or semipublic nature, having served as judge in the bureau of awards at the Centennial Exposition
Centennial Exposition
The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It was officially...
in 1876 and been a member of the United States Federal Assay Commission in 1886, 1888 and 1896. He was a fellow or member of many chemical and other learned societies, including the
- Royal SocietyRoyal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
- College of Physicians of Philadelphia
- Medical Society of Virginia
- American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
- American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
- Society of Arts in London
- American Chemical SocietyAmerican Chemical SocietyThe American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
(of which he was president in 1882) - Société Chimique de FranceSociété Chimique de FranceThe Société Chimique de France is a learned society and professional association founded in 1857 to represent the interests of French chemists in a variety of ways in local, national and international contexts.-History:...
- German Chemical SocietyGesellschaft Deutscher ChemikerThe Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker is a learned society and professional association founded in 1949 to represent the interests of German chemists in local, national and international contexts...
- American Philosophical SocietyAmerican Philosophical SocietyThe American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
He received the honorary degree of Legum Doctor
Legum Doctor
Legum Doctor is a doctorate-level academic degree in law, or an honorary doctorate, depending on the jurisdiction. The double L in the abbreviation refers to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both Canon Law and Civil Law, the double L indicating the plural, Doctor of both...
from William and Mary College, University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
, Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. His interest in the US South was emphasized and strengthened by his marriage to Mary Elizabeth Ormond (1836–1886), the daughter of an Alabama judge John James Ormond
John James Ormond
Hon. John James Ormond was an associate justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, from 1837-1847. John James Ormond was born in England in 1795, to English parents. He died on 4th March 1866, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He lived in Ormond House, it is now known as Ormond-Miller House...
, in 1857, and again, after the death of his first wife in 1886, to Josephine Burtlhe of Louisiana, in 1888. Josephine survived him with two of the three children from his first marriage, as his first son, John Ormond Mallet, died at an early age.
In 1961, Mallet Assembly
Mallet Assembly
The Mallet Assembly is an intellectual living program at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Mallet was established in 1961 by John Blackburn and is the oldest honors program still in existence at the University of Alabama....
, a self-governing residential honors program was created by the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
. Mallet Assembly was located in Mallet Hall, which was named for him.
Research
The scientific work of Mallet covered a wide field including general and applied chemistry and chemical mineralogy. He devised methods for the determination of organic matter in potable water and characterized meteorites and rare terrestrial minerals; in particular, he studied the occurrence of silver in the ash of South American volcanoes. He accurately determined the density of solid mercury, molecular weight of hydrofluoric acidHydrofluoric acid
Hydrofluoric acid is a solution of hydrogen fluoride in water. It is a valued source of fluorine and is the precursor to numerous pharmaceuticals such as fluoxetine and diverse materials such as PTFE ....
and the atomic weights of lithium (1856), aluminium (1880) and gold. For comparison, his result for lithium (6.943) agrees within the error with the currently accepted value of 6.941(2). Mallet also served as expert witness in many court cases involving poisoning, value of iron ore, pollution of river water and other chemical questions.